New Stealth Wireless?

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funkymonk10

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170
They were unplugged obviously. Don't know whether it was the band's decision or the big wigs running the show. The latter is my guess, wanted to play it safe and keep things simple. Pretty sure the chili peppers would have been able to handle playing Give It Away for the 705th time regardless of a little cold and rain.
 
rickenbackerkid

rickenbackerkid

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6,558
They were acting. Pretty common on superbowl/grammy shows. The risk of mistake or tech failure is so high that they prefer to use a pre-recorded track. Vocals were live though. I think Springsteen was the only superbowl show that was actually live in recent years.
 
blesscurse

blesscurse

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529
Having mimed for music videos (but not in front of 300 million zillion persons) I can say that being plugged in and getting some response - if only from the monitoring system or unreinforced back line - makes for a more pleasurable experience. And looks better.
 
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funkymonk10

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170
Pretty telling tweet by Flea, "No trickery. No choice, but no trickery". I think it's a little refreshing that they didn't have any wireless units to try and trick everyone into thinking they were actually playing.
 
Twinattack

Twinattack

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1,188
I don't care who you are, no one can play funk guitar and bass that tight while going that crazy on stage. To me that was more of a giveaway than the lack of plugs. Not judging. Pretty much to be expected on that stage.
 
B

BiGSTaN

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Messages
108
Twinattack said:
I don't care who you are, no one can play funk guitar and bass that tight while going that crazy on stage. To me that was more of a giveaway than the lack of plugs. Not judging. Pretty much to be expected on that stage.
Click to expand...

Obviously you've never witnessed the phenomenon named Flea
 
jnepo1

jnepo1

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Most halftime shows as well as the National Anthem is pre-recorded. I believe all of them have been for over five years now if not longer. Not just the Chili Peppers.
 
A

AuroraTide

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1,192
On the topic of stealth wireless systems.. Does anyone know if Ben from The Dillinger Escape Plans signature wound up getting a hidden input in the control cavity?
 
Ev O)))

Ev O)))

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1,267
AuroraTide said:
On the topic of stealth wireless systems.. Does anyone know if Ben from The Dillinger Escape Plans signature wound up getting a hidden input in the control cavity?
Click to expand...

It goes straight from the pickup to the wireless which is in the cavity at the back I think
 
TheoDog

TheoDog

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It did seem like Josh and Flea kind of over acted to get the point across.
No talk of the Bruno Mars band mime act?
 
analogmike

analogmike

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I remember when ZZ Top played TUSH on the Super Bowl and Billy played the slide solo with no slide while almost laughing.
 
slap_back05

slap_back05

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TheoDog said:
It did seem like Josh and Flea kind of over acted to get the point across.
No talk of the Bruno Mars band mime act?
Click to expand...

Well, his drums at the beginning were mic'd up, but none of the other drums appeared to be, and neither was the brass, so at least that much of it was canned. Can't blame 'em.
 
Twinattack

Twinattack

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TheoDog said:
It did seem like Josh and Flea kind of over acted to get the point across.
No talk of the Bruno Mars band mime act?
Click to expand...

This was more the point I was trying to make. I have seen them live multiple times but this seemed especially exhaggerated.

And yes, Bruno's band wasn't any more convincing to me either.

If you think about it, the Seahawks were about the only ones really playing that night!
 
J

jacoby75

Member
Messages
293
Yeah, I'm dating myself here a bit, but I remember the Third Eye Blind halftime show when they came out and the guitar part for "I'll Never Let You Go" had started before the guy actually started strumming the guitar. What a joke. That pretty much ruined the illusion for me and I've had zero expectations for Superbowl halftime shows ever since. Next thing you know someone will try to tell me professional wrestling is fake! I'm not a Bruno Mars fan at all, but I thought he was pretty entertaining, whether his band was playing to a track or not. More entertaining than the game, that's for dang sure. Granted, every song of his is just a rip off of somebody else (The Police, James Brown, Motown, you name it), but it was entertaining.
 
F

funkymonk10

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Messages
170
A MESSAGE FROM FLEA

Dear everybody,

When we were asked by the NFL and Bruno to play our song Give It Away at the Super Bowl, it was made clear to us that the vocals would be live, but the bass, drums, and guitar would be pre-recorded. I understand the NFL's stance on this, given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the t.v. viewers. There was not any room for argument on this, the NFL does not want to risk their show being botched by bad sound, period.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers stance on any sort of miming has been that we will absolutely not do it. The last time we did it (or tried to) was in the late 80's, we were thrown off of 'The Top Of the Pops' television program in the U.K. during rehearsals because we refused to mime properly, I played bass with my shoe, John played guitar atop Anthony's shoulders, and we basically had a wrestling match onstage, making a mockery of the idea that it was a real live performance.

We mimed on one or two weird MTV shows before that and it always was a drag. We take our music playing seriously, it is a sacred thing for us, and anyone who has ever seen us in concert (like the night before the Super Bowl at the Barclays Center), knows that we play from our heart, we improvise spontaneously, take musical risks, and sweat blood at every show. We have been on the road for 31 years doing it.

So, when this Super Bowl gig concept came up, there was a lot of confusion amongst us as whether or not we should do it, but we eventually decided, it was a surreal-like, once in a life time crazy thing to do and we would just have fun and do it. We had given this a lot of thought before agreeing to do it, and besides many a long conversation amongst ourselves, I spoke with many musician friends for whom I have the utmost respect, and they all said they would do it if asked, that it was a wild trippy thing to do, what the hell. Plus, we the RHCP all love football too and that played a big part in our decision. We decided that, with Anthony singing live, that we could still bring the spirit and freedom of what we do into the performance, and of course we played every note in the recording specially for the gig. I met and spoke with Bruno, who was a beautiful dude, a real talented musician, and we worked out something that seemed like it would be fun.

We recorded a track for the day, just banged one out from our hearts that was very like in spirit to the versions we have been playing live the last few years with our beloved Josh on guitar.

For the actual performance, Josh, Chad, and I were playing along with the pre recorded track so there was no need to plug in our guitars, so we did not. Could we have plugged them in and avoided bumming people out who have expressed disappointment that the instrumental track was pre recorded? Of course easily we could have and this would be a non-issue. We thought it better to not pretend. It seemed like the realest thing to do in the circumstance. It was like making a music video in front of a gazillion people, except with live vocals, and only one chance to rock it. Our only thought was to bring the spirit of who we are to the people.

I am grateful to the NFL for having us. And I am grateful to Bruno, who is a super talented young man for inviting us to be a part of his gig. I would do it all the same way again.

We, as a band, aspire to grow as musicians and songwriters, and to continue to play our guts out live onstage for anyone who wants to get their brains blown out.

Sincerely,

Flea

http://redhotchilipeppers.com/news/454-a-message-from-flea
 
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